By NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The State of Kansas has asked a federal court to set aside a decision by the U.S. Department of the Interior that allows the Wyandotte Nation of Oklahoma to build and operate a casino on land in Park City.
"From the state's vantage point, we thought the matter was resolved in 2014 when the Department of the Interior declined the request to allow the tribe to build a tribal casino," Schmidt said. "We heard nothing further on it, until we read in the newspaper that the tribe had asked the Department of the Interior to change its mind and the department had decided to do so. That's not due process."
The lawsuit is the latest in a dispute since the purchase of the land in 1992 over the tribe’s legal authority to build a casino on the parcel. The state, through the Kansas Lottery, operates its own casino in Mulvane. The Kansas Star Casino is among other plaintiffs in the lawsuit.
"We've asked the court to set that decision aside and allow the parties to come back to the table and discuss the legal issues involved as they were doing for many years before this went off the rails," Schmidt said.
At issue is whether federal law authorizes the enterprise; Kansas law prohibits casino gaming at that location, so the tribal casino may only be built if federal law overrides the state prohibition.